Weng Zimo intentionally released information externally, stating that Jiang Ye's people and Bei Ji Wang Rao Cheng Zhou's people had completed negotiations, and the progress was rapid, with preparations to import military arms within a few days.
Upon hearing the news, Valcke urgently contacted Isabelle overnight and began a new round of negotiations via video call.
Perhaps fearing that Jiang Ye would turn to support Rao Cheng Zhou, Valcke appeared particularly compliant this time, accepting all the rules set by Jiang Ye and revealing a lot of his own top-secret information to Isabelle.
The content of the top-secret information was quite explosive. It first startled Isabelle, and when Isabelle reported the news to Jiang Ye, Jiang Ye was also genuinely shocked.
First, Valcke's troops possessed nuclear weapons.
They had acquired hypersonic intercontinental missiles from interstellar arms smugglers, with a range of sixteen thousand kilometers, equipped with ten nuclear warheads, each with an explosive yield 300 times that of the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
According to Valcke, the missiles he possessed had a terminal velocity that could exceed Mach 25, making them impossible for the existing defense systems of the warlord forces on Wheeler Star to intercept. Once an intercontinental missile was launched, mushroom clouds could rise over ten cities simultaneously, killing tens of millions within an hour. Valcke did not disclose the specific number of intercontinental missiles, but he claimed there were "more than one."
Jiang Ye had not expected Valcke to possess such a trump card, and that it was sold by interstellar arms smugglers.
"Damn it, they dare to sell such things so casually, these arms smugglers should have no descendants!" Jiang Ye grumbled privately.
Second, many of Valcke's so-called "deserters" and "traitors" were actually undercover agents.
Valcke's nickname was "Soft Bone," and every time he was attacked by other warlord forces, he would flee with his tail between his legs, constantly ceding good territory.
Some of his subordinates, tired of fleeing, defected to the enemy, where they prospered within the enemy ranks.
Jiang Ye had previously felt that Valcke's constant fleeing was unusual, and now he realized that he was truly playing the long game!
Valcke claimed that with a single command, many warlord forces would be thrown into chaos, defecting back in organized units, or attacking allied forces from within and without.
Jiang Ye did not know if this was true, but if it could achieve the effect Valcke described, he had certainly mastered the art of indirect influence.
Third, Valcke secretly harbored an air force of fifty thousand men, trained in the mountains and never publicized.
This was a shockingly large number, but Jiang Ye estimated there was likely some exaggeration.
The so-called fifty thousand air force personnel could not all be pilots engaged in combat; those involved in logistics likely made up more than half.
A single aircraft might have only three or four backup pilots, but the mechanics responsible for maintaining and repairing aircraft often required dozens of people.
There were also many support personnel, such as base cooks, cleaners, guards for the aviation material warehouses, and those who drove gas trucks to scare birds away from the runway. The fifty thousand figure likely included all these people, and the actual number of deployable aircraft might be less than a thousand at most.
However, considering that the warlord forces on Wheeler Star were relatively primitive, with many forces lacking an air force at all, a thousand military aircraft would definitely be capable of widespread dominance. Once air superiority was achieved, sweeping across the battlefield would be no joke.
This top-secret information allowed Jiang Ye to re-evaluate his perception of Valcke. Of course, it was also highly possible that his wife, Okashi, had prepared all of this.
The reason Valcke proactively provided this top-secret information was likely to prove his strength and prevent Jiang Ye from abandoning his support. Jiang Ye could imagine that once news of his contact with Bei Ji Wang Rao Cheng Zhou spread, Valcke would undoubtedly be extremely panicked.
Since Valcke had pledged his loyalty, Jiang Ye was naturally happy to reassure him.
Jiang Ye wrote a personal letter, filled with polite pleasantries, expressing his regards to Valcke, his anticipation of his troops contributing to maintaining peace, and an invitation to attend a banquet on Jiang Ye Star during the New Year.
Only at the very end of the letter did he address practical matters, expressing Jiang Ye's desire to station diplomatic personnel permanently in Valcke's territory for convenient and timely communication.
Once this letter made its way to Valcke, it would surely alleviate his anxiety.
With this, Jiang Ye was in high spirits.
Of the three largest warlord factions on Wheeler Star, Bei Ji Wang Rao Cheng Zhou, Soft Bone Valcke, and Chess Player Gant, two had expressed their submission and willingness to operate under Jiang Ye's rules.
As long as Chess Player Gant's side began negotiations and also abided by the rules, the situation on Wheeler Star would be largely settled.
With the three largest powers submitting to Jiang Ye, the scattered smaller warlords across the region would likely submit collectively, and any stubborn holdouts could be easily pacified without affecting the overall situation on the planet.
Jiang Ye felt that taking over Wheeler Star had gone quite smoothly, without bloodshed or significant resource expenditure, and had been achieved through pressure alone.
However, Jiang Ye's good mood lasted less than two days.
Wei Hongyang sent a message announcing that negotiations with Gant's delegation had broken down!
Jiang Ye watched the entire negotiation process recording. Wei Hongyang's negotiation skills were not problematic; they were even more proficient than Huang Bingyan's.
However, Gant's delegation exhibited strong resistance, maintaining a wary demeanor throughout. They seemed to have come with an adversarial stance from the beginning.
Experts from the think tank conducted a frame-by-frame analysis of the recordings, interpreting Gant's delegation's state through body language, tone of voice, and eye contact. The conclusion was that this delegation had no intention of cooperating from the outset; they likely had prior instructions from Gant.
Jiang Ye was anxious and contacted Gant again through Weng Zimo, attempting to initiate a new round of negotiations.
However, Gant had made up his mind and refused the negotiation request.
At nine o'clock on Sunday morning, Gant's forces used multiple channels to broadcast an announcement across Wheeler Star, declaring the formation of the Anti-Jiang Ye Hegemony Alliance.
The full text of the broadcast was brief but explosively charged:
"Fellow citizens of Wheeler Star:"
"The alien hegemon Jiang Ye has spread his claws across Wheeler Star, attempting to manipulate our planet, annihilate our fighting forces, and enslave us for generations. Jiang Ye, under the guise of humanitarianism and shouting slogans to stop war, seeks to dump expensive war machines upon us, thereby draining our planet's economy. Such a wolf in sheep's clothing incites universal outrage!"
"I, Gant Kim, hereby declare the formation of the Anti-Jiang Ye Hegemony Alliance and call upon all armed forces across Wheeler Star to join!"
"Our alliance upholds the following creed: to completely crush Jiang Ye's hegemonic ambitions, with no compromise, no surrender!"
Simultaneously with the broadcast, satellite imagery showed large-scale troop movements occurring in Gant's territory.
The trend of the movements was simple: concentration!
A large number of civilians were concentrated near military strongholds overnight.
Jiang Ye quickly understood Gant's intention.
Human shields!
Jiang Ye claimed to want to reduce war casualties on Wheeler Star and lead it towards peace.
Therefore, by concentrating civilians near military strongholds, he could avoid Jiang Ye's devastating nuclear strikes.
It had to be said that Gant's move made Jiang Ye feel like a lion trying to bite a hedgehog, with no place to start.